High Demand: Price of legal marijuana soars in Colorado

[RandySF]

The high times in Colorado are coming with high costs for cannabis consumers.

Hemp hunters who waited for hours early Wednesday to be among the first to legally purchase marijuana from state retailers found sticker shock at cash registers.

“I think people were a little bit surprised at the price,” said Rachel Gillette, executive director of the Colorado chapter of NORML, a national nonprofit seeking to make marijuana use legal nationwide. “We are concerned about that.”

On the first day of legal weed sales, Gillette said she found retailers selling top-shelf marijuana to recreational users at prices close to $400 per ounce, not including taxes.

For comparison, medical marijuana users, who’ve been able to buy weed from Colorado dispensaries since 2010, are currently paying around $250 an ounce plus taxes, she said.


http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/02/22149509-high-demand-price-of-legal-marijuana-soars-in-colorado?lite=&ocid=ansmsnbc11

[Bonobo]

1. 400/oz is not bad for super quality buds. Nt

[1000words]

5. Agree

When the novelty wears off, prices will drop.

[delrem]

9. It's way overpriced compared to street value

of top quality BC Bud.

Furthermore by coming thru' legal channels it ought to be much cheaper, not much more expensive - even with a tax.

Hopefully Colorado etc. allow the option of growing your own because without that option it'll be just a change of ownership, blackmarket thugs superceded by corporate thugs.

[fizzgig]

12. you can grow your own in colorado

husband wants to start but i won't touch the plants, i have a black thumb.

[1000words]

13. Your GIF is freaking me out

What is that ... Fraggle Rock?

[fizzgig]

14. my avatar is red from fraggle rock

the gif is fizzgig from the dark crystal

[Lifelong One]

16. With that gif, I wouldn't blame the plants

[SomethingFishy]

19. Problem is the price on the street dropped drastically when Medical became legal..

The street price has been about 10 bucks a gram. The shop I went to this week was charging 110 a quarter, tax included. Also medical patients are paying less, about 60-70 a quarter..

I imagine the price will drop once more stores open. I waited in line 2 hours on day one. Yesterday was only about 15 minutes.

One big advantage to the stores is selection. No longer do you go and get whatever your "guy" has at the moment. Yesterday I checked out at least 10 different kinds of pot. Sativa, Indica, Hybrids..

I bought some stuff called Agent Orange which is a 60/40 Sativa/Indica hybrid. It's pretty damn sweet.

[Bonobo]

23. Wow.

Being illegal, it just varies from place to place and according what your "guy" can get as you say.

I was paying $100/quarter when I left the US 4 years ago and it was always great stuff, but there was no choice...

I am seriously jealous...

[SomethingFishy]

24. Yeah man we are spoiled, no doubt about it...

The feeling of walking into a store and having a conversation with them on the type of high you are looking for, taste, how the buds break up, man it's just an amazing feeling. I have also noticed that average age of the consumer so far is mid 40's The best was standing in line with a little old lady in her 80's and discussing the best forms of ingestion. She was telling me about different edibles, about vaping, drinks.. You can't beat this with a stick, even with the high prices..

I'm a roadie so I buy all over the country. Most places it's still $100 a quarter but Northern California, Canada and some places in Europe have also had the same price drops, in the $10 a gram range

Where are you now Bonobo? Are you able to get decent stuff?

[Bonobo]

25. I'm in Japan...

It's hard. I have a much more stress-free life, so I don't need the bud from a stress-relieving POV like I used to, I just miss it a lot.

Due to the influence of the US after WW2, weed became illegal here and it is just too dangerous to use so I don't anymore. But I was a chronic for 20+ years and grew my own for a stretch and enjoyed that very much too.

There stories of all these varieties just kill me, bro.

[SomethingFishy]

27. Wow, yeah Asia is tough...

I remember flying into Singapore and the first thing I saw was a huge sign at the airport that said "Death Penalty For Drug Traffickers"

Scared the crap out of me...


Well if you ever come back for a visit let me know

[Bonobo]

33. Thanks.

But when I do come back, I'm usually too wasted to leave the house

[GP6971]

34. I remember seeing the signs about

chewing gum. Then I got berated for having my foot on the yellow taxi line. Such sterile city

[Locut0s]

36. As someone who has been thinking of traveling to japan of late...

I have to ask what do you do there?

I have plenty of experience with Asia (China, Taiwan, Malaysia) but never japan and I want to go. It's no longer as easy to go the English teacher route though, you just about have to have a degree in most places, and it's also picked up a rather bad stigma in japan and elsewhere in Asia from ignorant shits who abuse the concept. Other than English teaching I'm at a loss as to what other work travel arrangements there would be available.

How is living in Japan, what are your opinions? My parents almost didn't move back here to North America in which case I would have been raised in Asia, and I would have been fine with that. I love much of Asia! Of course anyone who has lived there for a long time gets to know its nuances and like anything else it's not all positive.

[Bonobo]

39. I have been coming to, and living in, Japan since 1986.

I have been, at times, an English teacher, a company worker, a freelance translator for a long time.

Now, I am a game creator.

I love Japan very much. There is really too much to say in the space of a small post.

[Locut0s]

40. Cool. Game programming was the degree I was headed towards...

Before my emotional issues sidelined me yet again. I have about 1/2 a diploma in programming. Wow that's a dream job for me.

If I were to improve my Chinese I could probably do something similar in China in time, or translation.

Mind if I PM you some time to talk about Japan, Asia and the like?

[Bonobo]

42. Any time. nt

[MADem]

2. If they continue to overcharge--and they will for the short term, because there is a

scarcity of places around the nation where one can buy weed for amusement legally, and it's a sellers' market--people in Colorado will start growing their own.

When other states jump on the Legalize It bandwagon, the price will start coming down. When it's legal everywhere, it'll be like buying a bottle of wine or a six pack of beer. It's a frigging weed, already!

[RainDog]

4. They were limiting sales to half an oz in some stores

even tho CO residents can purchase an oz at a time.

The stores have been afraid of selling out before the next crop comes available. All the plants are labeled and followed all through the growth process up until the store purchase and, I read some of them weren't yet in the stores either.

This initial sales moment will calm down, tho. A lot of people went to Colorado from all over the nation to be a part of history.

This is the beginning of the end of yet another prohibition (tho they'll probably try to make tobacco cigs illegal, since they're stupid about this stuff.)

[MADem]

17. The Native Americans would pick up on the tobacco sales thing if anyone tried to

criminalize cigarettes--they'd be the "dealers" in that equation!

I think the tobacco companies are probably investing in those vaporizer delivery systems. If they're smart they should start looking towards the day when they start processing/rolling pot and packaging it in packs of five, ten or twenty. If they're really smart they'll also figure out a way to process and package a single 'loosey' joint in a jazzy, overpriced package....

[RainDog]

18. who knows

I think a lot of people are more interested in purchasing cannabis as buds these days, not joints. but, sure, someone will probably sell packs of three or something.

but, rather than cigarettes, I think the culture is more like beer enthusiasts in a lot of ways, so people will not necessarily be interested in what big tobac has to offer. they may want to do like some europeans and mix tobac and cannabis, tho. that seems like a more likely entry to me, but who knows.

I'm interested in the medical applications.

I look forward to more research. Last time I checked, one group was trying to get approval for tests using a topical ointment for melanomas.

[MADem]

47. I agree with you, with the younger crowd, especially...

...but the older crowd, they like convenience.

It's sort of like the "Craft Beer Kids" vs. The "Budweiser Geezers." One group likes the individuality and customization opportunities, the other likes the simple convenience. The "twenty pack" would be like buying a case of Bud to put in the garage refrigerator to have on hand in case a crowd comes over.

As for medical applications, I get the feeling they've barely scratched the surface.

[SomethingFishy]

21. Yeah my store was limiting to half an oz too.. and no edibles...

I bought some "Gummie Bears" on the first day and they were awesome. When I went back they were selling edibles only to medical patients.. Gonna hit them up again tomorrow

[William769]

3. Capitalism at it's best.

[B Calm]

6. There will be a lot of people planting gardens next summer.

[Locut0s]

37. This seems like the most viable route short term...

Until a lot of states legalize it and it becomes a big industry, I know the medical side of it already is, seems like grow your own, in those states where it's legal, will be the way to go.

[msongs]

7. no probs the mexican drug cartels will bring in cheaper stuff. problem solved :-) nt

[dionysus]

15. lol, dirt weed in bales vs dank. (lol nt.)

[madokie]

8. The last time I purchased the top dollar weed

It was several years ago but I bought an ounce at the first of october and smoked on it until april the next spring so all in all it was a pretty good buy. Back then I was pretty much staying high but the weed was so good that one toke was all I needed to keep me stoned for several hours. It was some of that 400 an ounce that I bought for 200 hundred. Good weed.

I haven't smoked any weed since the 8th of april last year so I'd bet if I was to buy an ounce of that 400 buck weed I could smoke on it for months and months and then some. Trouble is I can't smoke anymore so thats just a pipe dream now.

[msanthrope]

20. Brownies. nt

[Kath1]

43. Brownies are very nice,

Good suggestion, msanthrope!

[TeamPooka]

10. Media keeps talking about this. The real story is that no one is getting arrested. nt

[Cha]

28. Exactly!

[Lifelong One]

11. Grow your own if you can't afford it

Read up on how to grow cannabis. The stores grow it the same way you could as long as you have the right equipment.

[SomethingFishy]

22. +1.. You don't need much, a closet and a small grow light will yield 3 plants..

And the shit grows like a weed!!

[Blue_In_AK]

44. Shop light/grow light combo works good.

I haven't bought any weed in probably nine years. Horticulture is fun.

[Cha]

26. Haysus! Damn!

Dare I bring up the prices in the '70s? Is it that hard to grow?

[Kath1]

35. We should bring up the prices in the 70's. I'm 55. High school grad in '76.

That said, a lot of the stuff today is very high quality. That's what they tell me, anyway!

[orleans]

38. so...i vaguely remember nickel bags & dime bags

something about two and three fingers deep in a baggie.
i forget how much all that was
$5, $10, and $15 for a "lid"?
god-my memory is terrible.

anyway, i'm wondering which one of those equals an ounce.

anyone care to help me out with this?

[Kath1]

41. A "lid" was an OZ.

One ounce, give or take a little.

My 25 year-old daughter smokes. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. We occasionally smoke together when she visits. (Not "Leave It To Beaver" land here.) Very cool. Much better than alcohol, in my opinion.

Should have been legalized nationally a long time ago.

[orleans]

45. i googled "how much was a lid of pot"

and came upon a couple interesting websites with detailed breakdowns
basically it's what i'm thinking of/remembering--and it was sold for $15 in the early/mid 70s.

and now it's $400??? in the stores in colorado? wow--
back then i never would have imagined that pot & same sex marriage wouldn't be legal & accepted & no big freaking deal across this country by now.

i thought we would've come "a long way, baby" a long time ago.
and we haven't. we haven't gone far at all unfortunately.

(now...who can i blame?)

[Kath1]

46. Sadly, we are not nearly where I thought we would be as a society by bow.

On the upside we do have some states legalizing marijuana and same sex marrige and that is a good thing. I believe love = love and no one should tell a person who they can't marry.

As for marijuana, I am very pro-legalization.

[BlueToTheBone]

29. The taxes are probably the surprise amount.

But it's the price they pay to enjoy their lives without being arrested on the way out the door.

[elleng]

31. Right.

Good

[elleng]

30. No surprise.

No cost of being prosecuted any longer (by the State, at least.)

[mike_c]

32. that is just absurd, but presumably it will change as prohibition ends more generally....

I have no clue what the dispensary prices are here on the North Coast, but black market cost for good indoor bud generally runs about $300 per oz. Of course, after a while friends in the business start giving you as much as you pay for or more-- mason jars of bud make excellent xmas presents!-- so we use about an oz a month here and actually buy probably a third of that. And if you don't mind smoking trim (or making cannabutter) and know an independent trimmer or two, they'll give it to you by the gallon zip-lock just to get it out of the house. It's as much a gift economy as it is a business. I'm sure that will change though, when the big growers go legit. On the other hand, hopefully we'll be able to maintain our own small grows for personal use instead.

[Le Taz Hot]

48. Along about September/October

the price will plummet down as the 2014 crop is harvested.

[uncle ray]

49. this is why:

currently, only MMJ dispensaries are allowed to transition to RMJ sales. in a year or so it will open up so anybody can apply. right now, those dispensaries are generally limited to 6 plants per patient, unless they have a doctors rec for more. the dispensaries are allowed to mirror their MMJ plant count for their rec plant count, so if they have 500 MMJ plants, they can have an additional 500 RMJ plants, no more. so no matter what you are willing to invest, you are basically limited by your patient count on the med side of the business. supply is being kept artificially low by the regulators.